So why do knowledgeable blackjack players advise you to hit on 15 (and again on 16, should you draw an Ace)? Because they understand the goal of Blackjack is NOT to avoid busting. It is to have a winning hand. And, as experience shows, in most instances 15 isn’t going to stand up.

It will be a long night at the table if your strategy is to simply stay
in the game and rely on the competition to fail.

And so it is in business. When presented with a situation or
opportunity, we quickly assess our probability of success. And if our odds of failure are 50% (or 20% or sometimes even 10%), we “stand.” But we forget. Our goal in business (as in Blackjack) is NOT to avoid failure, but to succeed. And as in Blackjack, standing on 15 is not going to lead to much success.

When the odds are in your favor, the calls are easier to make. The risk of failure is less. But what separates the world class Blackjack player from the tour bus crowd (besides having a humongous bankroll) is the courage to not freeze up when the odds are NOT in your favor.

A couple of examples of companies who refused to “stand on 15” come to mind. One is Kellogg, who in the teeth of the worst economic climate in more than a century, and against the advice of its financial people, launched and promoted a new breakfast cereal, Rice Krispies. This event was the turning point for Kellogg, who for the last 70+ years has been the undisputed leader in the breakfast food category. Then there’s Apple. We forget now, but the first iPod was launched just a few weeks after 9/11. Both companies could have stood pat. They could have waited to be dealt a more advantageous hand. But they realized they had plenty to gain. And you think the hand you’re holding now is bad?

Play to win. Not to not lose.

Posted by Mickey

So far, the program has been a win/win for Pepsi. The soft drink maker received plenty of media attention for its Refresh Project, and it gave it a chance to connect with its fans and followers in a meaningful way.

In light of the recent Gulf disaster, Pepsi expanded its Refresh Project into a “Do Good for the Gulf” Refresh campaign. Pepsi has pledged $1.3 million to consumer submitted ideas that could “refresh the communities of the Gulf states.” Pepsi invited the public to submit ideas through July 16. Starting August 2, consumers can vote on the ideas they like best. Finalists will be announced on September 2, and grants will be awarded on September 22.

On the surface, this initiative seems to hit all the right notes. It’s a natural way to extend Pepsi’s Social Media campaign while doing some much-needed good. But to the skeptical part of me, this just doesn’t smell right. By tying itself to a major disaster, the company has to carefully walk the line between legitimate cause marketing and shameless self promotion. Is the company’s driving intention to help the residents of the Gulf, or is it to promote the Pepsi brand?

Here are a few of my reservations:

1) The amount pledged. Hey $1.3 million isn’t chump change by any stretch of the imagination. But knowing the inner workings of corporate marketing/PR departments, I can easily imagine the company is paying ten times that amount to promote and administer the program. It’s like those solicitations you get to help feed the children of Africa, but when you look into the financials of the organization, you find out that only 5 cents of your dollar goes for food. In other words, if Pepsi’s #1 concern is providing for Gulf residents, it could do better.

2) The company’s involvement in the “crowd sourcing” part of this project. The focus strictly on Social Media means the system will be gamed—heavy users Social Media will have more of a say than your average Gulf resident. While that fits with the original intention and structure of the Refresh Project, it feels somewhat ham-handed for dealing with people’s legitimate needs and concerns.

3) The very public way the company is going about this promotion. It seems a little too “corporate” and well-planned. Disasters are messy. Carefully orchestrated philanthropy feels out of place. For an example of a company that did it right, think back to WalMart in the days following Hurricane Katrina. With no fanfare, the company’s stores loaded tens of thousands of bottles of fresh water on its trucks and delivered them to needy residents before the media even showed up.

There’s nothing wrong with an organization striving to get noticed for its good works. If I were advising Pepsi on how to follow through on this project, here’s what I’d tell them:

1) Find out what the needs are NOW and address them. Why wait until the end of September to actually do something? The days immediately following a disaster are when the needs and opportunities are most critical. Find out what needs aren’t being addressed now, and address them. If there’s a need for more shovels or graders to comb the beaches, provide them. If volunteers need accommodations, equipment, hazmat suits or respirators (or cell phones to call home), provide them. Go ahead and collect nominations from the Facebook crowd, but don’t let them lead you on this.

2) Involve the Pepsi community as a whole. Allow folks beyond the Gulf in California or Nebraska or Idaho to contribute to the cause. Set up a dollar-for-dollar match campaign with specific projects in mind. Or start a general Gulf Fund where the company would handle all administrative expenses so every dollar goes to the cause, whether its shrimp fishermen’s families, bankrupted hotel operators or whatever.

3) Make a long-term pledge. Don’t bug out as soon as the story falls off the front page. Commit that “five cents of every Pepsi product purchased will go to Gulf aid,” or something like that.

4) Don’t focus on getting attention. No need to string huge Pepsi banners on the beaches, put logos everywhere and arrange for press briefings. Just get out there and do what you know needs done. People will notice. Stories will spread. This will be more powerful than an orchestrated Social Media campaign.

Public skepticism of corporations is high right now. The first question many consumers will ask of your good works is “What’s in it for you?” It pays to be as transparent as possible. If your #1 intention is to do good, then do good. Don’t worry about how you can milk your efforts.

Posted by Mickey

“As one of the worst recessions in recent history seems to loosen its grip, both fundamentally and psychologically, it’s time to take stock in what I hope we’ve learned.

Real relationships took a back seat in business. That’s not what caused the recession, but a quick scan of the worst headlines would suggest that if the major ethical lapses reported on Wall Street could occur, then perhaps even the smallest of firms had let go of behavior that looked something like decency.

As we rebound and even boom, I hope that we will see a return to business relationships built on a foundation of mutual respect, trust and decency.

While words like trust and decency can be hard to define tangibly, there are behaviors that any business can adopt to keep the focus where it should be.

Create more value

Price is a function of value, there’s no question about that fact. And value is delivered in many little ways. Now is the time to deconstruct our products and services, and perhaps more importantly, the way our customers experience our organization, with an eye on making the entire collection more valuable, remarkable, fun, flexible and personal. Doing that can set an organization on the path to a solid foundation of customer loyalty that serves in good times and bad.

Take a holistic view

As we view your customer needs, what if we tried to understand everything they need, including areas unrelated to our products and services? If we can come to appreciate all of our customer’s desires and goals, we can develop a team of strategic partners that can plug into our offerings and help us dramatically deepen our customer relationships.

What if we began to think of our role as a customer booster rocket and “go to” resource for everything they needed? Do this and we also develop a referral network that will turn into our ongoing lead generation machine.

Mine the collaboration universe

One of the greatest developments associated with the growth of the Web is the proliferation of tools that make it very easy to collaborate, both online and off, with prospective customers, vendors, mentors, suppliers, staff and even competitors. We must mine this technology and enable the players in our collaboration universe to expand what they can offer us, our team, and our customers.

And for decency bonus points…

Let’s take a quick look at our closest competitors. What’s happened to them during this downturn? Is there an opportunity to grab market share? If so, resist it and consider lending them a hand instead. I know this may run counter to competitive wisdom, and I’m not suggesting we need to take on their payables, but I do think there’s a long view in being the kind of company that uses their position in the community to establish a statement about what’s really important.

I grew up in a farm community and while it’s unlikely one farmer thought of themselves as fierce competitors of another, they did provide a market with the same products. However, if one farmer experienced a hardship, a broken down tractor, loss of livestock, or need to get the crop in before a big storm, they could usually count on the help of neighboring farms without the need to ask or expectation of payment. Everyone in the community knew that they would probably need this same kind of support and gave a hand willingly. I wonder if today’s small business community could take this view?

Learn from social behavior

Social technology affords us a glimpse into the personal lives of those around us. Certainly this can be abused on both ends, but it also calls out for a new form of leadership that is much more open and willing to blend business and personal.

With mainstream acceptance and sharing on social networks we have the tools to automatically build deeper relationships that take into consideration the challenges and objectives of those around us in ways never before experienced in the business world.

I often use the Mister Rogers quote, “It’s hard not to like somebody once you know their story,” to drive this point home. If we use the shift in social behavior to tell our own stories and learn from the stories of others and we’ll be much more equipped to create a culture of decency throughout.

Say thank you

With the rush and go, always crushed with things to do, it’s pretty easy to get complacent about who and what pays the bills. If we’ve lapsed into this, we need to remake space to thank the people that make our businesses possible.

This process starts with letting our staff members understand how valuable they are and how much we appreciate what they add. (In fact, acknowledging a job well done is the most powerful motivation tool in the box.)

I’ve taken up sending hand-written notes to those I should thank. It’s not that hard to establish a habit of sitting down at a set time each week and sending inked words of appreciation, recognition and observation.

That might be the most decent thing any of us can do.”

Thanks, John, for your thoughts.

Posted by Mickey

In other words, marketing malpractice at its worst.

Like most cases of mismarketing, this one started out with success. Chrysler succeeded admirably at creating buzz for the PT even before its launch in 2001. Described as a cross between a 1930’s sedan and a vintage milk truck, it was the darling of car shows. Pre-orders were strong. Anticipation of the model drove scores of the curious (most of them non-Chrysler types) to dealer showrooms. Early adopters paid well over invoice for the PT of their choice. Fan clubs were formed. Rallies were organized. Aftermarket pimping commenced. It was also the first of the “post retro” crop of vehicles, which has grown to include the Ford Mustang, the Dodge Challenger and the Chevrolet Camaro and HHR.

The Cruiser also proved to be a demographic-buster, appealing to everyone from retirees to customizers to first-time car buyers looking for something spacious, inexpensive and yes, head-turning. (In the spirit of disclosure, I must inform you I purchase a 2002 model, which I still drive today.)

It didn’t take long for Chrysler to squander its success. Here are a few of the marketing sins commited by the automaker on behalf of the Cruiser:

• It failed to reinvest in the brand. We’ve written before about the necessity for marketers to continually add value to their offerings (click here for post). If you see a PT coming down the street, you’d be hard pressed to tell if it was a 2001 model, a 2007 model or a 2010 model. Version 2.0 never arrived. Initial owners loved their Cruisers. But when it came time to trade them in, I suspect very few bought another one. Why buy the same car twice? As an example of an automaker who has done it right, check out the 2010 Honda Civic compared to the 2001.
• It failed to understand its user base. The downside of having a product that appeals to many demographics is that it is easy to lose site of your “sweet spot.” While you never want to turn away buyers, you definitely want to cater to your bread and butter. And Chrysler could never decide who its core market was. Was it the young urban family looking for economical transportation? The boomer who was swept up in the nostalgic looks? The soccer mom who wouldn’t be caught dead in a minivan?
• It allowed the model to become too ubiquitous. This is a tough one. The idea, after all is to sell more units, right? Well, actually the idea is to make more profits, and there are a lot of ways to go on that. The initial demand for the PT should have signaled Chrysler that it had a powerful niche model on it hands, but that’s all it would be. It was too polarizing to become the automaker’s flagship vehicle. By limiting production of the PT, Chrysler could have justified a premium price, which would played into the “individualism” the model inspired. And by upgrading the model (or adding variations: a panel truck, a woody station wagon, a top-less roadster, a club coupe?) Chrysler could continue to appeal to that crowd. Make the product’s Brand Vision “Head Turner.”

A former client of mine who was in the auto business once shared with me his early indicator of when a model was in trouble. “When you see rental car lots full of them, then you know the end is near,” he said. That was certainly true of the PT.

But perhaps the biggest marketing sin committed on behalf of the PT was to take a product that inspired passion, loyalty and camaraderie and allow it to suffer a Saturn-like fate.

Good luck, Fiat. Your work’s cut out for you.

Posted by Mickey

David Blaine, he’s not.  Harry does not create a distance between himself and his audience as most performers do. Instead he wows you with the results of his creativity and endless hours of dedication. And then he lets you in on the gag. At that moment, he becomes an ‘everyman.’ Members of his audience connect with him by thinking, “Hey, with enough practice, maybe even I could pull this off.”

Does this transparency diminish Harry’s act? Does it make his illusions any less “magical?” No. In fact, quite the opposite. Once you have an opportunity to “look behind the curtain,” you can more fully appreciate Harry’s act. By “giving away his secrets,” Harry his making magic more human and approachable. It’s one thing to make a 40-story skyscraper disappear. It’s another to have the magician show you how he did it. It gives you a more complete story. It gives you “expert knowledge” that you can try out on your own or share.  It gives you a deeper connection to the craft.

So how can you apply this to your marketing? Instead of attempting to be secretive about everything that goes into the creation of your products, consider what would happen if you were more transparent. Sure, there is a fine line here: there are always patents, trade secrets and competitive intelligence that need to be protected. But most of what we do on a day-to-day basis doesn’t exactly fall under the auspices of “classified information.” Yet we’re reluctant to share much about our processes.

One thing you’ll find out is that the customers who are truly passionate about your products want to know as much as they can about the organization. Just as Harry’s act creates a more complete story for his followers, inviting followers to learn more about your products, people and processes builds a more complete story for them to share.

Here’s Harry perfoming one of his most famous tricks: the old “needle-though-the-arm”:

And here’s the follow-up revealing how it’s done:

Now that you know how the trick works, aren’t you more likely to talk about it later? A more complete story provides a more complete experience.

Posted by Mickey

That’s not what this post is about.

Instead, I thought I’d take a look at some of the unfortunate collateral victims of the biggest environmental disaster in our nation’s history, and ask, Is there anything marketing can do to help?

I read this week where Florida beach communities are poised to run a multi-million dollar campaign aimed at vacationers telling them their beaches are okay.

The problem, of course, is that their beaches are not okay. Photos like this one, taken on a Pensacola beach, are making the rounds in news reports and via Social Media.

Running a campaign that says, in essence, “Tarballs, schmarballs, our beaches are just peachy” might make residents and businesses of beach communities feel good, but such a campaign would, unfortunately, be no more transparent than what we’ve seen from BP.

Okay, so throwing millions at an ad campaign showing pristine white beaches while folks in hazmat suits are shoveling stinking tarballs from the sands isn’t such a great idea. Still, is there any role for marketing?

Perhaps. I would advise these communities to relax, take a deep breath, and remember a few key facts. Number one, people are still going to take holidays. The folks who normally flock to your beaches in the summer will be going somewhere. You can count on this.

A second fact worth considering is that their entire communities have been set up to accommodate tourists. The beaches may be the top-of-mind draw, but most of these beach communities have a lot going for them, from Pensacola’s National Naval Aviation Museum to Biloxi’s riverboat casinos and famous antique row.

As a model for success, I would point them to what has happened over the last few years in Las Vegas. That community saw its tourism revenues drop mightily, as the economy convinced folks to stay home. Vegas’s major players responded by collectively cutting prices and adding value in order to keep occupancy at acceptable levels. That strategy appears to have worked. While venues have yet to see their margins return to the days of old, occupancy is holding at around 80%. And the stories being told back home about Las Vegas are good ones, which will serve the community well, both in the immediate future and as things recover.

Gulf communities could borrow much the of same tactics. Cut prices. Offer packages. Tie in with other communities to create vacation experiences. Above all, appeal to the folks who’ve established some sort of connection with these communities that they could really use their business. In the wake of 9/11 when no one was flying, Southwest Airlines received hundreds of letters from customers saying they were committed to flying on Southwest because they were concerned for the company.

Let’s not be sanguine about the prospects of these communities. They’ll be hurting, possibly for years to come. But hopefully, these communities will learn from BP’s missteps and understand a transparent approach will deliver better long-term results than trying to ignore the 800-lbs gorilla in the room.

Posted by Mickey

But then, weeks like this past one happen, and we’re all sort of left scratching our heads and lamenting “same old GM?”

First, let’s talk about the Memo. You know the one. The internal memo sent to employees that forbid the internal use of the “Chevy” name (the idea was to  forego the less formal “Chevy” for the formal brand moniker “Chevrolet” in an effort to develop a consistent brand name as the company broadens its global presence.).

Besides being a monumentally dumb idea, it shows a total ignorance about who really owns your brand (hint: it’s not you). The Chevy nickname has been around since cars had four wheels. It’s how consumers refer to their cars and trucks. It is a term of endearment, a creation of the customer. It’s a pop culture icon, showing up in movies, TV and songs (“Drove my Chevy to the levee, but the levee was dry…”). It made the brand famous. And you suggest (even just internally) walking away from that? No donut for you!

Thank you, though, for having the good sense to back off that memo a few days later.

Now let’s talk tag lines. Specifically, the “May the best car win” line. When you first introduced it, I loved it. It was just what GM needed—a bold, non-compromising line that was intended to draw a line in the sand, to get stakeholders to line up in support of it. It is going on the record for standing for quality and value and being willing to fall on the sword for it. And them, unfortunately, this week you had to recall 1.4 million new units. Oops. Suddenly, visions of the Vega and the Chevette rush through our minds.

As unkind as this week was, however, neither of these marketing faux pas by themselves should prove to be debilitating. New Coke, they aren’t. But they do serve as a warning to be transparent and to serve as the customer’s advocate.

Here’s hoping you have a better week this time around.

Posted by Mickey

Marketing purists have used examples such as this to poo-poo the benefits of creative advertising. “What good is over-the-top creativity if no one remembers who the advertiser is,” they say.

Now, however, we’re finding that even when subjects can’t recall the communication on a literal level, they retain much more information subliminally.

Recent research conducted by Melanie Dempsey (Ryerson University) and Andrew A. Mitchell (University of Toronto) proved that advertising messaging actually engages subjects on several different levels. There is the literal, linear level (“what does the communication say?”), which is what most recall testing measures. Beyond that, however, Dempsey and Mitchell mapped out how most of what is communicated via advertising messages is subconscious. The “language” of these subconscious communications is much more primal, primarily emotions, feelings and stimulating visuals.

That would explain why the consumer may remember a spot but not the advertiser the day after seeing it, yet follows through on purchasing the product at a later date for reasons unknown. Dempsey and Mitchell dubbed this effect the “I-like-it-but-I-don’t-know-why” effect.

In short, it’s more about how the consumer feels about the brand than what he knows about it.
To further test the potency of these unconscious brand preferences, Dempsey and Mitchell carried out a second experiment in which the subjects were presented with factual product information that cast their product preferences in a negative light. Despite this, the subjects continued to chose the products they “knew” to be inferior, but for which they had received positive branding associations. In other words, it is the feelings one has about a brand that contributes to brand loyalty.

You can read more about Dempsey and Mitchell’s study here.

The lesson to take away from Dempsey and Mitchell’s work is to recognize that Top Of Mind Recall is just the tip of the communications ice berg. If that is all we’re interesting in measuring, we’ll be short-changing ourselves. What’s most important is what’s subconsciously communicated under the radar.

Posted by Mickey

“Selling by Telling” is how we in advertising and marketing communications have made our livings since the days of Marconi. We told people why our products were just what they were looking for. How their whites would be whiter, their floors would be shinier and their hair more manageable. We skillfully created an itch with the consumer that could be salved with our product. We totally controlled all aspects of the messaging. The customer role in this process was to listen. She only heard what we wanted her to hear.

Time to wave those days bye-bye. Today, we’re not the only source of information for our customers. They’re hearing about us from their friends. From their peers. From media sources. From bloggers. From message boards. From third-party review sites.

No matter how you try to spin it, the information control we used to enjoy has gone the way of the 14.4 modem. What it comes down to for consumers is, who can I trust when making purchase decisions? In an era of perpetual spin, of misleading and manipulative messaging, of being misled and mistreated by marketers, who can blame them for not accepting as gospel everything we say?

I’m convinced that today, the best way to sell to a consumer is to allow them to sell to themselves. Instead of relying on puffery and unsubstantiated claims to win over consumers, let them discover what our product can deliver on their own. Enable communication between peers. Monitor customer reviews. Make information on your products easily available.

This changes the way we would approach marketing communications. Instead of relying on a check list of copy points, we would start with a core platform of a single, understandable believable promise, and a shared set of values. Less argument, more promise.

It also assumes that communication alone is not going to “complete the sale.” To allow someone to sell herself she needs to try our product. We need to do whatever it takes to get it into her hands and let her discover for herself that the promise we are making is true. Old-school tools like coupons, trial sizes, in-store demos and free trial periods take on a more prominent role in the marketing process. Instead of giving us a short-term competitive advantage, those things actually are critical in moving customers up the decision ladder.

Research over the past year (from Nielson and others) shows that coupon redemption is at record highs among consumers of all demos. While one can chalk this up to the stuttering economy, he must also be open to the idea that consumer behavior has made a permanent change to where “trial” has become amplified in the purchase decision process.

As part of your long-term marketing strategy, it makes sense to include initiatives that will allow consumers to use product trial as a way of selling themselves.

Posted by Mickey

Hey, who couldn’t. We’re talking just five measly percent here.

You should be able to achieve that kind of improvement without having to break much of a sweat. You could probably get there without revamping systems, adding new platforms or hiring more bodies, right?

But imagine the impact that extra 5% could have on your brand. If your perceived quality went up 5%. If awareness, interest and preference of your brand went up 5%. If 5% more people recalled your TV spots or clicked through on your banner ads. If 5% more customers recommended you to others, or contributed to your Facebook page.

The question of course is, how do you get 5% better?

This is where it is important to be in synch with your customer. To know what compels her to do business with you. What do you give her that is better than anyone else, that keeps her coming back?

Find out why your most loyal customers like you, then improve that element 5%. If they think you have the friendliest staff, look into initiatives that could make them 5% more helpful. If they think you have the best selection, try adding 5% more SKUs. If they buy you because of your reliability, up it by 5%, perhaps by including a no-questions-asked return policy or a longer warranty period. If they buy you because you’re cheaper, investigate how you could trim prices by another 5%, or at least add 5% more perceived value. If they like your advertising, kick it up a notch and challenge your agency to up the engagement by 5%. You get the idea.

Inevitably, the success of your brand will coincides with its perceived usefulness to customers. Make your products and services demonstrably more useful to customers, and you’re golden.

And it all starts with 5%.

Posted by Mickey